My Target dollar bin find

I FREELY admit I am a geek about a lot of things. I was so excited today because I was at Target in the dollar bin section and found these bright pink cones, and I thought they were so cute! Ten buck for twenty cones-I could not resist. Probably a really stupid purchase because I really like when I am teaching classes to be able to set up a couple of the courses before we start so things go faster(I already have some orange cones, and some yellow discs with numbers), BUT since I am losing my ultra cool instructor and my class of people I love because my instructor does not want to teach anymore...;-( (I am going through a big depression over this change of events, and can you imagine anyone NOT wanting to teach me? LOL!), so I probably wont be teaching or subbing anyway....so they will look good in my back yard and maybe inspire me to set up more little sequences. This is my new tire, not a new frame but the new tire someone gave me and I taped up-I think it turned out pretty smart looking.

Chloe, my best little buddy can still have fun running with me...YIPPIE

Well, tonight was Deanna's class, and the topic was rear crosses and I got to run with my first little agility partner, Chloe. When I got ready to go I did not feel very good so I was about to just cancel, but I just decided to go because it always makes me feel better. Chloe the sheltie was not letting me out of the house without her and I had already decided to not take Lizzie because I just was not up to any huge challenges, LOL. Breeze was OK during the class, but of course we were working on the problems I knew we had, and when it was over I asked if I could run Chloe really quick before we put anything away. It was cool because it was almost ten at night and she was jazzed to finally have a turn and she was FANTASTIC. It felt so neat to run with her, she aced everything, she was running fast and gosh it was just like a terrific dance. I love my little Chloe and for so long when I ran her she did not seem that happy, and then it was hot and she hates the heat, and then it was messing up trying to learn to run Breeze because Chloe runs so differently, and then it messed up Chloe because I kept trying to run her like Breeeze, so we took a break and at that time it was not as fun to run her for a little while, and I was afraid we might never get the fun feeling running together back and that made me very sad for a long time..., but I think I was wrong about that after tonight. Maybe I will have to let her do a little more in the fall when it cools down, but what ever happens it sure made me feel good to be out there with my first partner, she is such a great dog.

USDAA snookers, gamblers Breeze, City of Industry, CA

This was Breeze's first trial with any contacts so I was not sure how things would go. This was her first USDAA trial, and it was the first time either of us have run anything like gamblers or snookers together, and first time Breeze ran under this type of cover, and only our second trial on packed dirt, and I have to say this snookers course was a bear, not at all like I would think a starter snookers course should be. There were two combo jumps, and the angles were really hard and a lot of running. In addition to everything else it was a very hot day, but southern CA in the summer-who would have figured that?

We got to do our first gamblers run at 9 am, wow, how weird was that after doing AKC where we do not even get to check in until noon? That was great to run so early and helped with the stress level a LOT.
Gamblers gives you a certain amount of time for an opening and you can design your own course, you need to be by the first obstacle for the gamble when the whistle blows, so you can start your gamble. The gamble is the numbered end part of the course that you need to complete from behind a line.

So I had no clue how fast Breeze would run, and I did OK, my course I planned was to the teeter the second time. If I had gone there and to a jump like I had planned I might have got into better position, but the horn blew while I was on the Aframe a second time. I had a bucket load of points but Breeze got frustrated and was just totally handler focused, so I could see it was going to go no where and just tried to get her out of the ring. I have done so much work on teaching her to look at my body language that the fact she did not want to send out was not that big of a deal, but her being that handler focused was not so good. She did ok on her contacts for a first time and she was happy and so all in all I am very pleased.

The snookers course is a game where you take a red jump, then if you complete it successfully you can take any other obstacle, then you take a red jump, and can take another obstacle, take your third red and take another obstacle then you can start your closing which is a numbered course from obstacle 2-7. This particular course had a 6a and 6b, and a 7a and 7b, which meant you had to complete both of those things to count as one obstacle. Snookers makes you think on your feet because you design your own course but if you drop a red bar you have to run and find another red, and if you mess up you have to figure out where to go. This was a really hard course for a starters course. Anyway, Breeze held her start line stay and it was later in the day and I thought she was really tired and so I was suprised at how she shot off the line, LOL. Her poor Aframe contact had deteriorated pretty bad by the end,.....and we did really good through the opening, ...we made it through and then started our closing, we got to number 4 which was a jump we had to wrap and Breeze back jumped so we got whistled off the course. Anyway, we got through I had planned Breeze to go through the tunnel instead of the Aframe the first time, so when she went over the aframe I adjusted really quick to just start my closing.

All in all a GREAT day and I had a lot of fun. I GOT SO MUCH INFO this weekend and Breeze has really clued me in on where I need to train and what we need to keep working on and where we are going right, so how could someone complain about that? My training Buddy Denise actually came an hour and a half drive, and got to the trial at 7:30 to cheer me on, video and lend support. It was great and the whole day would have been so boring without her, she is always the best company. It really made me feel good she would do that for me.

AKC Novice JWW Pomona, CA Dan Butcher judge, first and Q

OH I am SERIOUSLY BUMMED. I REALLY, REALLY wanted to look at our run today and see what was going on but the video did not come out. Oh well. I had an AKC trial today with Breeze and we ran clean, ....well, clean for AKC because they do not fault weaves...but...the weaves were the worst we have ever done, LOL. We still completed the course in 33 seconds and got first, the course time was 41 seconds, so we had a lot more time, but goodness I can not imagine how fast her time would have been if we had got it together-with the weaves I was not sure we had made time, but we were fine on that, thank heavens for fast dogs. Usually Breeze only misses the entrance when I am too close to it, so we have been working on that and I have never had to do anything other then take her back to the start of the weaves and start again ONCE. This time though, guess we broke that rule..there was a nice line for jump one, two, three, and then just a straight forward very easy entry to the weaves. Not an entrance with any crosses before it, or turns or anything like that. So first time I think she entered on pole 2-3, then I took her back and she entered correctly, popped out at 3-4, then I took her back and she entered on the wrong side, and then gosh knows..it just felt like a never ending set of weave poles. I was thinking I wonder how long I can do this before they whistle us off, and I also thought I have NEVER tried the weave poles more then 2x's. I think we did four. Aghghghg, and she has been doing so well this week. Anyway, we got them, and the rest of the run was gorgeous, without a hitch. I just wonder if I said anything while she was weaving. I have noticed she gets nervous around pole 3 wondering if she did it right and if I say nothing then she will pop out thinking she did something wrong, if I say YES too loud she will get excited and lose it and pop out. I was going to say Poles, during the weaves to reassure her and remind her and we worked on that the last few days, but I really do not know if I did that or not. I think I vaguely remember her just wanting to look at me the second time and that is why she missed that time and was not wanting to look at the poles, and the last time I got her out, got my witts and told her to sit to calm her brain (I do remember she did not sit, so I let her go and she got the weaves). The start line was pretty sketchy, I was trying to hurry out and let her go before she broke and I let her go before I was ready because I could tell she was going to go and I did not want to take her off or let her break, but on that course the timing of letting her go was not a big deal.

Anyway, got Lizzies AKC measuremtents done this weekend for AKC, so if she ever trials we are good to go and a first AKC measurement for Chloe, and guess this next week will hold some weave pole work.

I am a bit concerned because tomorrow is USDAA, and PI which is Breeze's level since this is her first USDAA trial, she has twelve weaves, and when we did not do six...we might be in some serious deep Kimshee. They are predicting a warmer day tomorrow and it was pretty hot today, over 100 degrees, so hopefully we will not melt and hopefully I will remember Snookers and Gamblers rules, yikes!

Tweaking the training plan for Liz and evaluating what seems to be working....

I went to a trial today to help a friend walk the course and be a cheerleader. I deceided to bring the Lizard. WOW, as hard as a few weeks ago were with her, that is about as easy as she has been the last week. It started Monday when Liz was such a good girl and was able to complete the full agility class and did not do any zoomies, a first for the little Liz. That was followed by a couple of evenings of really great practices and today she was a little angel at the trial. She sat quietly in her crate, walked very nicely around the trial area and was able to do all her tricks and was generally a model dog.

ON the way home we stopped by the Bass Pro Shop, not a place I usually go but they had a chair that I wanted. It was really hot and I did not realize they allow dogs, who knew??? So I thought I am just going to bring her in and try to be quiet and I will just leave if they call me on it. As we got out of the car Lizzie was pulling like a frieght train and generally looking like wild animal, so I was concerned....but I deceided to not panic...take a deep breath and we started doing our premack. I made her do a couple of tricks, released her to sniff the plants she was so interested in, got her to do a couple more tricks, again released her to sniff, then got a few more tricks and released her and she no longer even wanted to sniff. I used my "what would Leslie McDevitt do?" question to myself and stopped at two or three points on the way in the store and made sure we were a connected unit and working together. I had a bunch of treats and I was encouraging C A L M.
WELL, we went over a lot of surfaces, it is a huge store, there is a two story fish tank with HUGE fish, a stream going through the store with fish and a bunch of stuffed animals (like stuffed game animals, which always makes me sad...), a glass elevator and two flights of wooden stairs that are a little slick. Liz walked like a companion dog, did a down stay while I looked at the chair and was friendly to all the other customers but did not jump all over them. As we were going to the check-out three employees came over to look at her because they said they could not believe how well behaved she was and all her tricks. WOW, that does not happen often. I put her in a stay as I was paying and the clerk asked if he could pet her, I said SURE, released her and told her she could put her front feet on the counter, she jumped up, let him pet her and then offered her paw to shake hands with him. Wow, it is a new feeling to have people looking at me with my dog and thinking that I am a lucky duck and I have a great dog.

Usually they all look at us but it is with some dismay like how could a dog actually be that wild? LOL, but that was not the look I got today and I have to say I like the way they looked today much better.

WHATS CHANGED?

Soooo, I have given up thinking that what I do is fully responsable for how Lizzie is all the time, sometimes she just is who she is. Sometimes I do all the right things and she is aweful and sometimes I do all the wrong things and she is wonderful. I have been doing some things with her that I have to think are helping.

1. One thing is that I am really trying to do a lot more of the premack training. When Liz really wants something and can not think and is super distracted, I am stopping myself and making her do a few things and her reward is doing what she wants. After we worked so hard with that plan with the gophers, she is really seeming to understand that and it works really quickly now. I am so impressed with that, see I impress myself, LOL.

2. I have really been trying to remember to use the Control Unleashed principle of not going into the "ring", (or store, or agility yard, or what ever...) without conecting and making sure I have a dog with me and not just a dog body, (a functioning dog with a mind), LOL. I have been using tricks which seem to calm her and she loves, and they are cute, it has been working great.

3. I have really been thinking about something I read from Leslie McDevitt, or maybe it was on her DVD.... anyway, she was talking about how it is not comfortable physically to stay in a state of high arousal and I think a lot of times dogs like Lizzie do not know there is another choice and they default to that high arousal state to any stimuli. Well, I have been trying to help her learn she can react otherwise. Soooo... like in the house she will go into HYPEREXCITEMENT, like way over the top if the door bell rings or one of the kids friends come over, so now I will tell her "go to your crate". Can you believe in that state if I get her down just a little she will totally on her own turn and find her way to the crate. I make her sit there for a minute until she is calmer then I give her the Break command to release her. Sometimes we go through this little ritual a few times and when she is able to sit and calmly look then she is allowed to sit and watch the excitement of the door being open-as long as she can stay calm. I do this when she wants to look out the window at the other dogs playing, or when she wants to stare at the cat, she is getting pretty good at that.

4. A training buddy-Denise-asked if I had read Shaping Success by Susan Garrett, and of course I have, it was what got me through Lizzies first year. When she asked me that I looked at it again and OMG, I found a sobering part of the book. Susan was talking about her Buzz and how once she was trialing him and he was dropping bars, she would take him out of the ring and took him out more then 21 times I think she said. She realized her reinforcement for him had dropped to a very low percentage and she thought he was fine because he still ran fast, he was still wild and he still barked and was willing to work with her. When she realized that Buzz really LOVED contacts and did great with those, which were still highly rewarded she stopped jump training and just did contacts to get his rate of reinforcement up. With no further jump work the next time she trialed him, wha laaa, it was all fixed. IT HIT ME, OMG, when I have been working with Liz I think I have gotten lax and figured she was handling working through things more and I was letting her struggle more. Not sure Liz is a dog that really handles that, because she does not show stress in the way I am used to but....thinking back think she has been having more trouble and I think that is why she is being so steller with her contacts, and things she knows how to do, like if I say find the tire, she does, but when it comes to running sequences she gets a lot more stressed/wild. Not totally sure that is the whole answer, but something I am becoming aware of again and I am setting up her sessions to insure her success a little more, she is not Breeze.

Anyway, just some things in my training plan that have been undergoing some tweaking and I am sure we will be having a back sliding soon....but gosh little Lizzie is doing very well the last week and I am enjoying our little step forward.

just a little practice session before the big trial this weekend for Breeze...

Check out my new tire on my tire jump. I was given the really nice tire a few weeks ago, and I got it all taped up and pretty and hung on my tire jump. I love my tire jump now!

I have not posted many of our practice videos, I have not had any lessons with Alicia and have been doing some lessons here in town, but those start at 7:30pm and run until like 10pm, so it is impossible to get video there, so I decided to post a little video because I like to have it for me to look back on when we will be perfect in a couple of months, then I can remember where we came from, LOL!!!!!Lizzie did pretty good in practice, I had to break down the first part of the sequence because she wanted to go around the tire, then she just was having trouble sticking her contact really well, but she was trying and she understands now, then I did not get it on video -but I had to break down with a toy coming out of the tunnel and finding the jump-coming to my side. It did not help that she reads my body really well and if I pull off the tunnel even a split second too soon and am moving laterally, then she thinks she is supposed to pull off the tunnel and come with me and of course collection after a jump is not her favorite thing-to put it mildly, LOL, but we both got it pretty quick. She really is such a good girl and really tries so hard, but check out how fast she can turn herself off and sit and hold a great stay. I think so far the sit at the start line is working better for her then the down was lately, I might try a stand too, she might like that, but right now the sit seems to be doing the trick, less chance for her nose to distract her little mind, she is pretty solid in a sit stay.

Breeze had been doing terrific on her stays and her contacts. I am not sure what has happened to the contacts, except we have been working a LOT on the dog walk and doing the 2020 there. Breeze has been doing a 4 on the floor, a crooked 4 on the floor but it has been really solid,not the prettiest thing but solid. I have been working on the Aframe and exercises to build her back end thinking that might be some of the reason she sort of just falls down the aframe and I have been trying to make sure her weight is shifted back, so maybe that is a fall out of that???? Anyway, Breeze has a lot of runs this weekend, an AKC JWW, and a USDAA gamblers and snookers (and has only done JWW in trials so far, or tunnelers,....so I am a bit concerned after our practice tonight!!!!)

A revised timeline for the Lizard

When I got this cute little split faced, curly coated border collie, Lizzie...I had really high hopes, dreams, aspirations. I knew that day that we were meant to be together, and for good and bad we were going to be a team. So as the first few weeks came and went and we were getting to know each other and after a few months she started showing some of her future personality, I was a little concerned. Not to worry, she was just a baby and her total over zealous lust for life and never ending energy, that was just because she was a baby, RIGHT???? Please.... We did lots and lots more training and work on self control, I worked on making myself the funnest thing on earth, I spent lots of time, and some things were looking marvelous, but there was always this underlying total disconnect of the brain when Liz got excited.

When we hit a year, Liz got amazing at doing tricks, she could figure out anything, and surely she was just at the height of her adolescence, and any day she would be totally reliable. At that point I only dreamed of her being safe one day, surely soon she was called so I would not have to always worry about her getting out and going over the top with excitement and being three counties away before she could even hear someone calling her. That was my HUGE fear at this time. At that time people said she will mature. We enrolled in more obedience, a couple of recall classes-three whole series on the totally reliable recall and we did a lot of homework. At about this time we went to an agility instructor that really wanted to do lessons with Breeze, told me Liz and I had no relationship at all and the dog had no connection to me, this after a few minutes watching Liz in her total whoo hooo state after going to a new location-at that point she could truly not think. She made it clear that Liz was not allowed back. I was devistated but I tried to tell myself I knew the bond with me and Liz was stronger then any other bond I had known, and so what if this yahoo did not see it? Besides she was going to mature, right???

At the two year mark, not a lot had changed, Liz did lots more behaviors, she didn't get into everything in the house, but she still could not attend an agility class. But everyone said the magic mark is three years......PLEASE let that be!

Last summer at 2 1/2 OVERNIGHT things changed and Liz matured. Not to where I wanted her, not to where she could do what I had dreamed when I got her, not to where she could consistantly do a class, but to where she could function most of the times in a private lesson in a familiar environment and to where she could sometimes...function for a few minutes in a class in a familiar environment, but hey we had until 3 when she would fully mature, right???

So recently this spring we hit the three year mark. I love Lizzie more then anyone can know. If I want to have fun shaping and working with a dog, I always go to Lizzie first. Lizzie learns any tricks in a snap. Lizzie has a terrific recall when she has a head and well, she knows more then any other dog I have ever had. Still at 3, she can do a class, sometimes, she can work in an unfamiliar place, a little, sometimes, she can work for a little longer time, occassionally, but I do not worry about her getting lost, about her going over the top and running three counties before she stops and notices she is lost. She is very reliable in the house and doesnt tear up the bathroom, or get onto the counters or into the fridge like she used to do. Actually a wonderful dog to be around. She sleeps above my head on the pillow every night and I reach up and give her a pat and feel nice feeling her when I wake up at night. She really is my best friend, but I was facing that it might be time to give up on the idea of her doing what I got her for, agility, even though she is the fastest dog, she is built terrific, she loves it, but you have to be able to trust your dog can stay on course and well, that does not always happen. But maybe time to accept what is,....after all she is 3.

So last night there was a new ray of hope and a bunch of people were telling me that hey, lots of dogs mature and get it together at FOUR!!!! YES, some ray of hope!!! I am going to buy it!!! That ray of hope along with her amazing performance last night, maybe we will really actually make it, some day.....As long as she enjoys it, I will just have to keep trying. People might hear our story or watch us run and think I am a rotten trainer to not have this dog doing agility and trialing, but hey they do not have a dog like her and they have not seen what we have gone through, so let them think what they want. I guess if it never happens, that is ok too, maybe if she had turned out to be the agility dog I wanted and went out to buy, maybe she would not have been the amazing friend I found.

Deanna's class, Lizzie gets a gold star for her performance

Last night was Deanna's class and no video because it is a night class and so video just doesn't work! LIZZIE DID THE ENTIRE CLASS, and ACTUALLY looked like a dog that might actually be doing agility, not just a bad imposter. YIPPIE!!! So one thing is that Lizzie is not a dog that you get all riled up and in some wild drive before you go out, she does that on her own. She did so good in her start line stays, who would think a dog that looks like she has so little impulse control does her best work with the contacts and start line stays??? She does great in control work, it is just when she feels she is off on her own and floating out that she loses it. A girl who is in the class and has always been giving me a hard time for not trialing with Liz and has never seemed to understand why I have any trouble with her has watched her the last two weeks and came up to me and said, "WOW, I had thought I have seen high drive, wild dogs, and wild border collies, but I have never seen any dog like Lizzie", hahahahahahhahahahah, OMG, ya know if you did not experience the Liz, no one could believe the Liz. I always try to remember when we run it is not gorgeous, but there are not many that could have gotten as far as we have, so when I get discouraged....I do know I have worked fifty times harder and more with Liz then I have with Breeze, or Chloe and yet....you would not be able to tell by looking. So Liz and Breeze are opposite.

Breeze had trouble in this course with the weave entries-esp 10 on the light and dark circles. If I tap the break a little then she whirls around and starts yelling at me, if I run full fource then she blazes past the first pole and catches the poles about the second or third opening. Now Breeze is having difficulty because she stops about the third to fourth pole and looks back to see if she is right, whoops....if I say YES too loud or animated she gets all hyper and just loses it all and the weaves are history, if I say YES in a very soft tone at just the right time I can get some beautiful weaves, so we are going to have to work on that. Liz how ever had gorgeous weaves and just would occassionally pop out between pole 11 and 12.

Then in the light circles the start of the course, boy that is where there was a huge difference in the dogs. It was hard running both one right after another, first there is a lot of running....YIKES then Breeze will not hold her stay for a very long lead out and if I can get her too she would not read the number 2 double jump, she would sail around it, and if I stayed to make sure she saw that, then I was way further back, so I had to do a rear cross before 4, where with Liz I could move way further out and had no trouble getting a front cross between 3 and 4, which was just much nicer feeling. Then when we did the dark circles in the 4-5-6 section, Breeze has a fantastic tunnel send, so I could easily do a front cross between 5 and 6, then push out a little to get the weave line after 6 and it was a slick little bit of course for Breeze. Liz who coming off the teeter (WE SUBSTITUTED THE TEETER FOR THE AFRAME) gets all weird and doesnt want to drive out too far ahead,.....her I had to just stay with her on my left side out of the tunnel and do a rear cross before six, and still push her out a lot so she caught the right side of the poles for the entry.

I also figured out last night that I practice all sorts of weave entries but not with all the movement and forces of a real course like this, so we had a lot more trouble with entries then I would have thought considering we have worked with them so much lately.

That dark circle 11 to 12 amazed me because I was able to get there and do a backy uppy move and I thought that would work so well if I could get there, but I did not think I could especially with Liz because she was running fast last night....and Liz is usually not really good to put it mildly about decelerations, but we nailed that each time with both dogs, YES!!! Nothing like the feeling of actually being able to get somewhere where you did not think you could get to.

Anyway, all in all I learned a lot in class, and it was super hard running both dogs, but I do think that helped me really see the differences and figure some things out about both dogs.

I was so proud that Lizzie ran both of these courses TWICE, so a total of four courses and did not run off once. I do think I am going to switch to Lizzie sitting at the start in her stay, when she is in a down she starts sniffing, sniff, sniff, sniff, and then her little brain follows the sniff and it is a lot scarier watching her because I can see her disconnecting, so not sure that is always true, but I sure noticed it the past week, so might work with a sit and see how that goes.